Secondary battery



2 Sheets- Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

. GEQHATCH- SEONDARY BATTERY.

Patented June 29,1897.

Y I reventar'.- Geprge LE. Hatch 5y bz/'.5 dvr/agay;

a (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. E. HATCH. SECONDARY BATTERY.

No. 585,413. 4Patented June 29.1897.

l UNITED STATES GEORGE E.'HATCH,'OE"QU1NCY, MAssAcnusErrs, AAssIGNoRorTHREE-` PATENT OFFICE.

FOURTHS4 TO JAMES P. CLARE, OF SAMEPLAOE, AND JACOB E'. .RIDG- `WAY,OF-PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

S ECON DARY BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part @fretten lretest No. 585,473, dated .nine-29, 1897. Application filed April 28, 1896. ReneWedMarch 11, 1897.Serial No. 627'043. (No model.)

To tZZ Awhom, 1t-may concern:V

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. HATCH, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident.

of Quincy, Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements inSecondary Batteries, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of certain improvements in that class of secondarystorage batteries represented in my Patent No. 441,413,

I o dated November 25, 1S90.that is to say, those in which the activematerial is applied to the face of a porous plate, whereby said act-ivematerial is supported in contact- With the electrode.

One object of my present invention is to provide for the manufacture ofbatteries of this class of large size Without unduly increasing thebulk, Weight, or cost of the porous terra-cotta supporting-plates, afurther object 2o being to render the battery self-accommodatingt'oirregularities of expansion or contraction of the active material ortosuch buckling of the electrode as may take place, and a still v furtherobject being to provide for the use of 2 5 sectional. terracottasupporting-plates without risk of., forming electrical connections fromone element of .the battery to the next. These objects I attain in themanner hereinafter setV forth, reference being had to the 3oaccompanying drawings, in Which` `llignre 1 is a vertical sectional viewof a secondary battery constructed in accordance 'with my presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a perspective View looking at the-back of one ofthe sectional. terra-cotta supporting-plates of the battery and showingthe sections of.. the plate separated from each other. Fig; 3,'is aperspective vieu7 lookingat the face of the adjoining plate and alsoshowing the sections lo of the plate separated -from each other; andFig. t is a sectional plan view, onan enlarged scale, of part of' oneofthe supporting-plates of the hattet' Fig. 5 isa detail viewv of amodified forni of joint.

The battery' is composed of successive pairs of supports 1 and 2 for theactive material 3, this active material being applied to the adjoiningfaces of the supports 1 and 2 of each pair and being held thereby inelectrical contact with the conductor or electxiode et of theelement,`which may bea thin plate of lead or any other availableiorm ofconductor, the conductors being alternately positive' and negative andbeing connected up to suitable terminalsg'in the ordinary manner. Thatface of each of the supports which 'receives the active material is ofcellular form or is pitted, grooved, ro ughened, or otherwiseconstructed, so as to properly receive and retain said active material,and' the'bac'k cfzeach support is preferably ribbed, so astoter-@between it and the back of the adjacent support, channels orpassages for the entrance or circulation of the electrolyte in orderthat thelatter may gain access to the entire rear surface ofeachsupport. Any suitable separating medium may, however, be used inplace .of the ribs as a means of separating the'supports: from eachother.

of a number of small platesoi terra-cotta or edge,the object inmakingthe supports in sections being to permit oi?l the molding andburning of very thin plates Without risk of breaking, warping, or otherdistortion due to the burning' of the plates and tor the handling of thesaine before they are burned.

expansion or contraction of the 4active mateducting-electrode as maytakeplace.

It will be observed on reference to Fig. 1 that the horizontal jointsbetween the plates Each of thesupports land 2 is composed other porousearthenware disposed edge to .Thesectional plates, as shown in thedrawother, so as to accommodate irregularity of rial and such bucklingor warping-oi the'conj or sections 'of the supports 1 are out of line.moved from-the edges of the with the horizontal joints between thesections or plates o'f vthe supports 2, the object of this constructionbeing to prevent the formation of a conducting-body from one element4 ofthe battery to the next, which might, if the horizontal joints of enesupport were in line j with those of the-adjacent support, be formed byactive material which had not been retory to iitting them'togeth'er.'

The plates may be so disposed as to break joints vertically as Well ashorizontally, if desired, by making the joints rabbeted,as shown in Fig.5; but this is not so important, as active material is not likely toaccumulate upon the verticaledgesof the plates. Instead of having plainbutt-joints the plates may be rabbeted at the edge, if desired.

The end supports of the battery are lflanked by plates 6, preferably ofWood treated se as prender it acid-proof, and the whole is boundtogether by means of elastic bands 7, so as to ret-ain the parts inproper relation to each other, but permit expansion and contraction.Having thus described my invention, l

.claim and desire to secure by Letters Patl. A secondary batteryconsisting of one or more pairs of supports, the inner faces of whichare provided with pockets and to wh ich Athe activevmsterial. is appliedand by which it is sustained in contact with the interposedconducting-electrode, each of said supports being composed of a numberof plates of sti-iic porous earthenwaredisposed edge to edge,

plates preparabearing-surfaces being formed between the separate platesof greater width than the average thickness of the plates, substantiallyas specified.

2. A secondary battery consisting of one or more pairs of supports, therear faces of which are provided with projecting ribs and their innerfaces with pockets to which supports the active material is applied andby vwhic'hit is sustained by contact with the interposedconducting-electrode, each of said supports being composed of a numberof plates of stiff porous earthenware disposed edge to edge,bearing-surfaces being formed between the separate plates of greaterwidth than-the average thickness of the plates, substantially asspecied.

3. A secondary battery in which are combined a series of pairs ofsupports each having active material applied to its inner face andsustained thereby in contact with the interposed conducting-electrode,each of said supports being composed of a number of stiff

